A level zero in a world of magic- pilot
by Willgm
Summary: "If you'll have me, this level zero will be your partner." A boy dragged far from home, a girl ridiculed by peers and family alike. In a world governed by arrogant mages, where science holds no meaning, a pair of zeroes become partners despite all odds. Merely a pilot, will either be continued or taken down depending on audience reaction.


Prologue: The sudden arrival within a strange world

Summoning

Ametsuchi Hideaki opened his eyes to the sounds of laughter. It didn't seem to be aimed at him specifically but it was being sent towards his general direction.

 _'Kamijou must have experienced some misfortune his way again'_ was the fourteen year old thoughts as the laughter continued. No matter what one did and no matter who you were, when next to the spiky-haired boy Kamijou Touma one could expect nothing but hilarity (and the occasional bouts of frustration when he got dragged into a fight with a group of delinquents) when hanging around him due to his zero luck (or F-ranked luck- or maybe N/A luck was more appropriate?- if you used the servant state system from the Fate series).

Either way, what happened to the boy on a daily basis was funny to watch... when it wasn't too bad.

Of course, there were more things to like about the boy such as his kindness and selflessness (though that in and of itself did bring about a few headaches as he rarely looked after himself when he was saving someone).

Even after he'd lost his memories he hadn't changed that much; was what Hide believed with his heart.

Back to the present though, even after a minute of non-stop laughter the noise continued to be fired.

Who was being laughed at?

Why was the laughter continuing for so long?

These questions appeared within the boys head as the sound echoed through his ears. Surely, whatever this person had done didn't warrant this did it? Even Kamijou's funniest moment only brought, at the absolute most, fifteen seconds before it stopped and someone went to help him with whatever had happened.

And yet it continued into the two minute mark with no signs of stopping.

Wasn't the target of this being ridiculed at this point instead of just laughed at? Seriously guy/girl, say something back; tell them to stop or yell at them to stop.

Don't just... take it; surely, you're feeling hurt from this too long a laughter right? You're feeling pain from this right?

"Say something." The words unconsciously left his lips without him meaning them too. "Don't just accept this, tell them to stop."

His voice was but a whisper but it seemed to carry the weight of an earthquake as the laughter did indeed stop and all attention was turned his way. Looking back to the feeling of gazes he found the curious stares of school children around his age (if maybe a little older) looking back at him.

"That's enough, isn't it?" Still speaking unconsciously, Hideaki got to his feet, flicking off the patches of dust off the shoulders of his winter uniform and his light brown hair. "Don't you think you've laughed enough? I don't know what this person did but laughing for that long goes beyond a joke don't you think?"

His question was met with another round of laughter; one that was definitely aimed towards him.

"A-a commoner is lecturing us!?"

"You-you really did it this time Zero!"

Such things were said amongst the laughter.

...Hideaki was unsure how to respond. For starters, he wasn't even aware who was being laughed at nor why they had been laughing to begin with but, since the laughter was aimed at him now, that person was at least thankful to have the ridicule off them.

-He was wrong.

"This... is my divine... beautiful... familiar?" Picking up the angered whispers through the laughter he turned his head to the side at last.

Pink- or rather, strawberry blonde. A small girl with reddish-brown eyes and flawless white skin that was smaller than him looked in his direction with a look that almost seemed to imply he'd killed a precious pet right in-front of her without so much of a word of apology or warning beforehand.

Disregarding that though, what she had said- what all of them had said... hadn't sounded Japanese. It may sound surprising to those not in the know but in Academy city, his home and where he'd been until just a few minutes before, the language spoken was primarily Japanese- due to being in Japan and all. With that said, what was being spoken sounded like old French mixed with a little German... perhaps Nordic might have suited the way the words sounded the best.

Regardless, the language being spoken was European in nature and nothing like Japanese... so why was he able to understand it _and_ speak it perfectly despite having only just arrived in this place?

There was only one conclusion he could think of really:

Magic.

Of course, it always came down to magic now didn't it?

Hideaki- who had just returned to Academy city after the fighting in Russia- released an exaggerated sigh.

"I'm the one that should be doing that you stupid commoner!" Beside him, the strawberry blonde girl yelled out in annoyance at his own reaction to the circumstances.

 _'There goes that commoner again. Are these kids trying to say they're nobility?'_

In truth, such a concept was not that difficult to believe. If these people were indeed magicians that lived in a society where magic was a common thing then those who wielded it would certainly be likely to be given a noble position- provided it was a hereditary form of magic rather than a system that anyone could theoretically wield if they had the proper resolve for it like the magic used by the magicians back home.

-Yes, back home. After everything Hideaki had experienced since the start of the school year onward he'd seen many strange things from learning magic exists to seeing angels- both natural, such as archangel Gabriel, and artificial such as Kyouka Kazakiri and, to a lesser extent, the AIM-burst that had appeared during the level upper incident- to meeting a man that could single-handedly destroy an army without something like Accelerators vector change ability to witnessing the star of Bethlehem rise to the sky during WW3.

There were, obviously, more things that could be mentioned but you get the idea.

As such, as soon as he noticed some odd things such as the magicians wearing robes (not something that couldn't happen, mind you, but most don't) to the magicians being children (again, something that can happen- such as a ten year old girl he'd encountered in the snowy plains of Russia during the war) to _magical creatures just sitting alongside common animals such as cats and dogs and not ripping them to shreds!_ He'd concluded that this was, in-fact, not his world.

-Familiars. The word stuck to his head after he'd heard the strawberry blonde girl muttered it.

Hideaki was aware of what a familiar was: a companion or creature under the mages control that performed recon, item gathering and protection for their masters. While what these mages seemed to be doing to obtain their familiars (I.e summoning them from wherever) the contract was likely made afterwards so it was all good.

Was that why such supernatural creatures such as a salamander, basilisk and a _dragon of all things_ could sit next to normal house pets without ripping them limb from limb perhaps?

...But wait, _he_ had been called to be a familiar too.

How did that work? While Hideaki wasn't a magician or knew that much about how magic worked other than a bare-bones explanation he knew from reading fantasy manga that familiars tended to be animals and occasionally magical creatures.

Never, in anything he'd seen, had a human ever been made into a familiar.

The strawberry blonde seemed to agree with him as she ran up to an elderly bald man in robes holding a staff to allow her to retry only to be denied.

"Now, Ms Vallière, finish the contract."

"With _him?_ " The short girl poked a finger towards him almost as if he were a creature to be disgusted by.

 _'Sorry for being human, little girl. What are you then?'_

Eventually, the pinkette released a sigh, as if to say she'd resigned herself to an unfavourable situation, and walked back over towards Hideaki.

"Well then, since the laughter seems to have stopped; you alright?" Despite the situation Hideaki asked such a question.

Of course-

"Why should I answer a commoner when they ask a question!?"

-she didn't respond pleasantly.

"Now, kneel commoner; and consider yourself lucky. Normally, a noble would ever do this for someone like you so-"

"You mean enslave me with a contract usually used on an animal? Oh good, there's hope for you people yet- just not you." Hideaki, who knew what she was asking of him, bluntly interrupted her words and refused in such a roundabout way.

The pinkette froze. The crowd surrounding them froze as well- well, most of them did. One girl, a short, blue haired one with glasses with a book in her hand, turned her gaze form her book and levelled a look of slight curiosity towards him. Her choice of hairstyle reminded him of the user of offensive armour, Kinuhata Saiai, while the almost emotionless mask she held reminded him almost of Takitsubo Rikou.

Yes, emotionless _mask_. Hideaki was no stranger to suffering; while he'd lived a relatively normal life before entering Academy city he'd since met such individuals that were so broken over their pasts that they hid behind tough masks to escape it.

Accelerator, the cities #1 esper, was a good example of such a person.

As such, he saw the hidden pain that hid behind the mask.

And then-

"?" Before he knew it he'd walked over to the small girl and put his hands onto her shoulders.

Naturally, both the crowd and the girl were confused by the gesture.

"I won't pretend to know what you're going through," At that her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. "But it'll all work out in the end- even if I have to settle it myself."

"...How?"

"Let's just say you're not the first I've met with that look." With that he let go and turned away.

There was nothing else he could do at that moment. While he may have been aware of the suffering, like he said, he knew nothing about it and so could do nothing to attempt to fix or placate it.

She would have to come to him and explain that suffering herself if she actually wanted his help with it and he was fine with that. He wasn't Kamijou, who threw himself into other peoples problems in order to save them after all.

No, he was Ametsuchi Hideaki; a level zero middle schooler that had somehow managed to land himself a girlfriend at the age of 14, a girl he considered a sister in all but blood, an odd child stalker that would follow him to the ends of the earth and around 10,000 girls that would risk their lives for him.

That last one was probably the only odd one on that list... what, everyone has an odd child stalker following them around these days right?

No, just him?

Okay then.

Back to the story, Hideaki returned his attention back to the strawberry blonde girl who by this point was levelling a glare that rivalled that of a certain electromasters.

 _'!'_ Hideaki moved back as if slapped. The girl dropped her glare in response and opted for a confused look.

 _'This girl... holds sadness in her as well.'_ It wasn't difficult to see. Something akin to tear marks were on her face and a faint trace of... _something_ was apparent in her eyes.

 _'Earlier, someone had called her zero. Does the number have a significant meaning here like it does in Academy city or does it just mean that she is a failure as a magician?_

 _Either way, being called that obviously affects her deeply._

 _Just like...'_

He shook the thoughts away. No need to think of _that_ incident again.

Yes, the girl was the important thing at the moment. Levelling his gaze to hers, Hideaki walked back over to the small girl and placed his right hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture like he had the blue haired girl.

"W-what are you-"

"Like I said just now, I know a thing or two about suffering; as such you can't hide that look in your eye from me."

For a moment the girl flinched and looked away; revealing a lonely, vulnerable girl that needed a companion. That moment quickly passed however and the glare returned.

"Don't pretend to know me, commoner! How could-"

"Because I know what its like." His words silenced her yet again. "To be looked down on for your lack of talent, to be seen as a waste of space by your peers; I understand it all. Don't think you're alone in that position, facing that ridicule, because you're not."

Hideaki said all this while focussing his full attention on the girl; their eyes locked towards each others. While he had no idea what the girl saw within his own, he himself saw something light up with the intensity of the sun.

"Tell me..." She spoke once more. The pride, the arrogance from before had vanished. What came from her voice instead was likely how she truly felt inside; sorrow, misery... "What is your name...?"

 _Hope._

"Ametsuchi Hideaki(1), a pleasure to meet you..."

"Louise... Louise François le Blanc de la Vallière." She replied.

"Well then, Louise; you called me here to be your familiar, correct?"

He received a nod.

 _'Well, its highly unlikely anyone back home will be able to find a way to get me back. If it was Kamijou a search, and possibly method, would have probably already started but I'm not as connected as he is to the magic side. In other words... I'm stuck here for a while._

 _In that case...'_

"...Alright then, if you'll have me, _this level 0_ will be your partner." He removed his arms from her shoulders and kneeled; putting one of his legs onto the ground while the other stood. He rested his left hand onto the raised leg and looked up towards his new... 'charge', would likely be the correct word.

After a moment of shocked silence Louise pulled out a stick from her pocket- a wand, perhaps?- and placed the tip on his forehead.

"I am Louise François le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagon of the five elements, bless this humble boy... and make him my familiar." She removed the wand from his forehead and replaced it with her lips.

The soft feeling caused a faint blush to raise to the boys cheeks but he said nothing. The contract was complete, all that was left was-

"Hmm?"

-The branding of the runes. Looking down at his left hand, Hideaki noticed a rather bizarre collection of runes were being inscribed onto the back of his left; right in the centre to be more precise.

Naturally, he felt no pain from the experience as his left arm was a cybernetic replacement he'd had to have equipped after a fierce battle on the 2nd of May alongside Mikoto.

 _'How does that work though? Since the arm can be taken off how does it function properly... oh well; its magic so it'll probably work no matter how odd it is.'_

After around twenty seconds the branding stopped and in the end left a series of runic characters he'd never seen before. While he hadn't interacted with that flame magician from Necessarius much he had managed to catch a glimpse of the runes he used on his laminated cards during the daihaseisai incident involving that courier from England.

And these runes looked nothing like them.

The old man seemed to agree with him as he came over and, after asking permission, began writing down the odd characters on a piece of paper he had on hand with a quill before turning to the, at this point, silent children around them.

"Class, you shall have the rest of today as well as tomorrow off in order to properly bond with your familiars. Class dismissed." With that, the old man began levitating off the ground towards the second story window of the tower-like construct behind them.

The students didn't waste any time in doing the same and all headed towards that window.

And then...

"Louise, you'd better _walk._ "

"Yeah, with your _talent_ you'd just blow yourself up!"

"A commoner who's all bark and no bite is perfect for you, _zero._ "

Such hurtful words. Hideaki quickly turned to look over to the girl who merely seemed to ignore it while looking over to him. Despite the facade of calmness though, he could see the hurt that was building up inside her.

"...How about you show me around the Academy, Louise?" He had to distract her from the taunts. "If I'm gonna gonna be here with you until you graduate I may as well get to know the terrain."

For a second or two it didn't seem that she heard him but that idea quickly past when she nodded, grabbed him by his newly branded arm, and pulled him forward.

 **Between the lines**

Within the Western side of Tokyo a place known as Academy City existed. It was a city of science that boasted technology 20-30 years ahead of the world that stood as the head of the _scientific_ side of the world.

Within that city of technology eighty percent of its populace were made up entirely of students, ranging from elementary school to university level in academic age.

These students were known as espers, people that had been _altered_ through a process known as the power curriculum program into something slightly different from a human. Oh, don't get me wrong; if one were to cut open an esper they would find that it perfectly matches that of a regular person right down to their genetic material.

Espers were not humans that underwent mutations in their biology. No, they were humans that had obtained what was known as a personal reality; that being the espers own image of reality and overwriting it over the reality seen by ordinary humans to create changes in the world.

Perhaps the term ability users would explain things better?

Regardless, these espers that covered the majority of the population all lived relatively normal lives- well, as normal a life as one could have in a city where the most unlikely of people could possess a power that could blow you into next Wednesday but that's beside the point.

At the moment, the city was celebrating. Just a few days ago Academy city had won a month long war against the forces of Russia and the euphoria of victory was still in most peoples minds.

Many of the occupants of Academy city hadn't partaken in the war. As the majority were students and not soldiers they had not entered the front-lines within the cold Russian snow or even left the walls of the city due to it being protected by the voluntary 'police' known as Anti-skill.

Yes, _most._

There had been a few that had dared to enter the battlefield for one reason or another that was theirs and theirs alone to say and all of them had returned alive from the experience as changed people in one way or another.

But we were not here to talk about those few.

Within district 7 of Academy cities 23 districts, that housed most middle and high schools as well as most of those students dorms and apartments, one person remained unaffected by the festivities of the end of the conflict that could have destroyed the planet.

That person, was a girl named Saten Ruiko.

Within a darkened dorm room that didn't belong to her she sat on a single bed with her head hung low and her arms wrapped around each other to give a false sense of comfort. Her hair was a mess and streams of tears continually fell from her eyes.

The reason for her sadness was simple.

 _A certain person hadn't returned after the wars end._

That person, Ametsuchi Hideaki, was nowhere to be found.

She had come to that dorm room because she had heard the boy was finally returning from the battlefield by a close friend of hers and so she had rushed over to give him a smack up the head for running off to war and a hug/kiss combo for coming back safely.

-Only to discover that the dorm room was empty when she arrived.

She had been lied too.

She had called Judgement, anti-skill and anyone else she could think of but to no avail.

Ametsuchi Hideaki had truly vanished from the world.


End file.
